The Prime Minister joined other European leaders at a Lisbon summit to toast a new "Reform Treaty", which critics claim is simply a rehashed version of the EU Constitution killed off by Dutch and French votes two years ago.

The Labour Government maintains that a referendum is unnecessary within a parliamentary democracy system and that British interests are protected by “red lines”; David Cameron claims that this argument treats people “like fools”.

What do you think? Why won’t Mr Brown bow to popular demand for a referendum? Is he simply afraid that losing would undermine his authority? Or are there other interests and pressures at work?